Navigation Acts

acts passed by the English Parliament to defend England’s sea trade from foreign competition.

The first Navigation Act was passed in 1381. The act of 1651 established that goods from Asia, Africa, and America were to be shipped to England and her possessions only on English vessels; European goods were to be shipped on either English vessels or the vessels of the exporting country. The act was directed against Dutch intermediate trade and fishing; it led to the Dutch War of 1652–54, as a result of which the Netherlands was compelled to accept the principles of the Navigation Acts. The clauses of the act of 1651 were preserved and developed further in the acts of 1660, 1663, 1672, and 1696. The Navigation Acts were based on the principles of mercantilism and played a major role in the development of English sea trade. They were abolished in the mid-19th century with the establishment of English commercial and industrial hegemony and the transition to the principles of free trade.